Ontario Wine Country is OPEN!

The summer is here, and many experiences in Wine Country Ontario – whether in the Lake Erie North Shore, Prince Edward County or the Niagara Peninsula – are just a short drive away from the Greater Toronto Area.  With tourism greatly restricted in light of the COVID-19 pandemic (and rightfully so), a more “local” vacation in Ontario has never seemed better, even if we’re intimately familiar with the beauty of the great province and the bounty of Wine Country! On that topic, we couldn’t be happier that Wine Country Ontario is slowly and safely opening up again. Yes, Wine Country is …

Quarantine Talk with Thomas Bachelder

We interrupt your daily sparkling wine browsing with a special announcement: today, we’re going in depth on some exceptional still wines. That’s right: still wines. 😱 No effervescence, not a bubble in sight… unless you take into account the sparkling storyteller and prolific winemaker that is Thomas Bachelder. Last month, we sat down on Zoom with Thomas as part of a virtual tasting, and we discussed his latest release – “La Violette” – only the second release since being granted a retail license in 2019. Though we endured some technical difficulties which precluded us from creating a video of the experience, …

Cava 101: What is Cava?

Maybe you’re familiar with the term “Cava”, or maybe you’re not. But y’know that iconic black and gold bottle of bubbly that you’ve seen at every New Years Party? Surely you’ve had a glass of it at some point right? Well, that’s Cava. So what is Cava exactly? And what makes it different from Champagne or Prosecco?

How to Order Ontario Wine to your Doorstep During COVID-19

It’s been a difficult few weeks for all of us, but we are trying to look on the bright side while raising a glass of wine and supporting our local wine industry! ❤️🍷🇨🇦 Local wineries, retailers, and restaurants offer many online ordering and delivery options, allowing us to #StayHome and enjoy VQA Ontario wine while helping to prevent the spread of COVID-19. So, while you self-isolate, be sure to continue supporting our local wine industry from home via one of the many convenient options available… Option #1: Order Direct from Ontario Wineries Ontario VQA wineries are doing their part to …

What is Lambrusco?

As you know from our post on the Sparkling Wines of Italy, like Champagne in France, Italian sparkling wine has become synonymous with Prosecco – but that’s not all that the country has to offer when it comes to bubbly! That’s right… we’re shining a spotlight on Italy’s sparkling red superstar, Lambrusco! Italy’s Red Sparkler As the world’s best sparkling wines are typically produced in cooler climates, it should come as no surprise that there are considerably less amounts of it being produced as you travel further south in Italy. However, the central part of the country is known for the distinct Lambrusco style, which …

A Wine Lovers Travel Guide: The Florida Keys

As Canadians, we’re no strangers to beautiful South Florida. Each year, we escape the harsh winter weather to live our best “Snow Bird” lives down on the sunny and beautiful Gulf Coast. 😆 And yet, each time before we go (and when we return home) it seems we’re bombarded with the same questions… “What do you guys do down there?!” – Most People “Where are the best places to eat?” – Foodie Friends “Are there any good wine bars?” – Fellow Winos “Have you been to the Florida Keys?” – Literally Everyone So, glasses of bubbly in hand, we put …

Gifts That Pop: Holiday Sparkling Survival Guide

It’s the most ✨sparkling✨ time of the year! And while we all know that sparkling wine should not be reserved solely for special occasions, there’s something about this time of year that most certainly calls for bubbles! 🍾 After all, you can’t spell “Happy Holidays” without “sparkling”. Actually… you can. But why the heck would you want to?! 😜

Holiday Wine 101: 10 Tips for Selecting Wine for the Holidays

Despite all the good cheer and festivity, the holidays can be pretty stressful – especially if you’re hosting and in charge of selecting the wine! So we’ve put together some helpful tips and tricks – call it Holiday Wine 101 if you will – to help take the stress and guess work out of selecting your wine for the holidays. Whether you’re hosting, or in need of the perfect host or hostess gift, these Top 10 tips will make your holiday wine shopping and experience as easy as can be!

Build your own Champagne Christmas Tree!

We Sparkling Winos have been putting up our Champagne Christmas Tree for a few years now and every year, we get tonnes of feedback from friends and family who want to know (a) how we could drink so much champagne over the course of the year that we have enough to bottles to trim our tree and (b) how on earth did we conceptualize and arrange such festive and fun tree.

The Trius Tour – Billions of Bubbles Ahead!

We had the absolute pleasure of experiencing #TheTriusTour at Trius Winery in beautiful Niagara-on-the-Lake this past weekend. This fully immersive (and incredibly Instagrammable) tour highlights a few of Trius’ star performers: the Trius Rosé, the iconic Trius Red, and of course their all-star award winning Sparkling portfolio, which is comprised of the Trius Brut, the Trius Brut Rosé, and the Showcase Blanc de Blancs – easily our favourite Ontario sparkler of the past year. But, before we delve deeper into the billions of bubbles, it must be said that in all of our wine travels around the world, we’ve never …